Vehicle body motion informing device

ABSTRACT

A vehicle body motion informing device includes a vehicular interior part that configures an interior surface of a vehicular compartment of a vehicle, a lighting device mounted on a vehicular exterior side of the vehicular interior part and exiting light to a vehicular compartment, a control unit that receives an information signal relating to the motion of the vehicle body and controls the lighting device to exit light according to the information to inform the vehicle occupant of the motion of the vehicle body, and a surface member having semi-transmissivity and disposed to cover at least a lighting portion included in the vehicular interior part and a surrounding portion of the vehicular interior part. The lighting portion overlaps the lighting device and the light from the lighting device passes through the lighting portion to the vehicular compartment and the surrounding portion is near the lighting portion.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No.2019-190743 filed on Oct. 18, 2019. The entire contents of the priorityapplication are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technology described herein relates to a vehicle body motioninforming device.

BACKGROUND

There has been an informing device (an informing system) for informingmotions of a vehicle body to the vehicle occupants. Such an informingdevice informs the motions of the vehicle body by displaying an image ona display device mounted in an instrument panel or a head-up display.For example, various kinds of sensors such as an acceleration sensor anda wheel speed sensor are mounted in the vehicle body. Based on thedetection results of the sensors, the informing device is configured tovisualize the motions of the vehicle body such as pitching, rolling,yawing, a cornering force, and a force acting on the tires with arrowsof different lengths or display an actual image of the tire turningangle. Thus, such an informing device displays current motions of thevehicle body that presently occur.

Recently, a vehicle where a driving support system is installed and avehicle where a partial driving automation system is installed have beenpractically used and automated driving technology of a vehicle has beendeveloped. In such a vehicle, a vehicle body may be moved with norelation to an occupant's intention (particularly, a driver'sintention). Therefore, the motion of the vehicle is required to beinformed to the passenger at an earlier timing. In the above vehiclemotion informing device, a relatively small image is displayed to informthat the motion will be caused. Therefore, occurrence of the motion maynot be surely informed to the occupant. Further, in the above vehiclemotion informing device, the display device mounted in the instrumentpanel may deteriorate the internal design of the compartment andincrease a cost.

SUMMARY

The technology described herein was made in view of the abovecircumstances. An objective of the technology described herein is toprovide a vehicle body motion informing device that informs vehiclemotions of an occupant appropriately with a simple method withoutdeteriorating an internal design of a vehicle compartment.

A vehicle body motion informing device according to the presenttechnology is a vehicle body motion informing device mounted in avehicle and informing a vehicle occupant of a motion of a vehicle bodyof the vehicle. The vehicle body motion informing device includes avehicular interior part that configures an interior surface of avehicular compartment of the vehicle, a lighting device mounted on avehicular exterior side of the vehicular interior part and exiting lightto the vehicular compartment, a control unit that receives aninformation signal relating to the motion of the vehicle body andcontrols the lighting device to exit light according to the informationto inform the vehicle occupant of the motion of the vehicle body, and asurface member having semi-transmissivity and disposed to cover at leasta lighting portion included in the vehicular interior part and asurrounding portion of the vehicular interior part. The lighting portionoverlaps the lighting device and the light from the lighting devicepasses through the lighting portion to the vehicular compartment and thesurrounding portion is near the lighting portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram generally illustrating devices mounted in avehicle including a vehicle body motion informing device according to anembodiment of the technology described herein.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a compartment of a vehiclewhere the vehicle body motion informing device of the embodiment isinstalled.

FIG. 3 is an elevation view of door trims including lighting devices ofthe vehicle body motion informing device.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the door trim where thelighting device is mounted taken along IV-IV line in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating that the lighting devices ofthe vehicle body motion informing device are lighted.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a body motion informing processperformed by the body motion informing device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One embodiment of the present technology will be described in detailwith reference to the drawings. The present technology is not limited tothe embodiments described below but may be achieved in various modeswith variations and improvements based on the knowledges of those havingskills in the art.

A vehicle body motion informing device 10 in the embodiment is installedin a vehicle 12 including an automated driving system 11. FIG. 1 is ablock diagram illustrating general configurations of various devicesincluded in the vehicle 12. The vehicle 12 includes the vehicle bodymotion informing device 10, the automated driving system 11, a speedcontrol ECU 30, a turning control ECU 31, a driving device 32, a brakingdevice 33, and a steering device 34. The vehicle body motion informingdevice 10 is configured to receive control data from the automateddriving system 11 and inform the occupants that motions will be causedin a vehicle body. The automated driving system 11 will be described andthe vehicle body motion informing device 10 may be one of the componentsincluded in the automated driving system 11.

The automated driving system 11 in this embodiment is in level 4 that isdefined by Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE). In level 4, thevehicle performs acceleration, braking, and steering to travel to atarget point within a specific range including a highway road andrequests a driver's assist only when needed. The automated drivingsystem 11 may be in level 5. In the vehicle 12 including the automateddriving system 11 in level 4 or level 5, arrangement of a driver's seatand a passenger seat can be changed freely. For example, positions ofthe seats on a floor 13 can be changed in the vehicular front-reardirection or the seats can be rotated to change the directions of theseats to face a lateral side or a rear side. FIG. 2 illustrates aninterior of a compartment of the vehicle 12 and the driver's seat andthe passenger seat are not illustrated in FIG. 2 such that the vehiclebody motion informing device 10 can be seen.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the automated driving system 11 includes anautomated driving ECU 20, a sensing device 21, and an input section 27that receives data from external devices. The automated driving ECU 20includes a computer as a main component. The sensing device 21 includesradars and cameras mounted in the vehicle 12 to sense surroundingconditions of the vehicle 12. The automated driving ECU 20 includes mapdata 22, a target travel trajectory generating section (circuit) 23, anda target travel trajectory correcting section (circuit) 24. The map data22 is stored in a ROM of the computer included in the automated drivingECU 20. The map data 22 may be updated with new data that is obtainedfrom an external device when starting the vehicle 12. The target traveltrajectory generating section 23 generates a travelling trajectory tothe target point based on the map data 22 and the position coordinatereceived via a GPS 25 and stores the generated travelling trajectory ina memory 28. The target travel trajectory correcting section 24 mayobtain traffic information received from an external device such asVehicle Information and Communication System (VICS: registeredtrademark) 26 and correct the travelling trajectory. Examples of thetraffic information include information regarding traffic jams and roadconstructions. Further, the target travel trajectory correcting section24 may detect an obstacle based on image data obtained from the sensingdevice 21 and correct the travelling trajectory. The correctedtravelling trajectory is stored in the memory 28.

The automated driving ECU 20 transmits the travelling trajectory storedin the memory 28, various kinds of information regarding the travellingtrajectory such as speed limits, and information regarding the traveltrajectory to the speed control ECU 30 and the turning control ECU 31.The sensing device 21 detects a distance (an inter-vehicle distance) toa preceding vehicle that is travelling in front of the vehicle 12. Thespeed control ECU 30 also receives information regarding theinter-vehicle distance from the sensing device 21. The speed control ECU30 controls the driving device 32 such as an engine or a motor and thebraking device 33 based on the information received from the automateddriving ECU 20 and the information received from the sensing device 21to control the travelling speed of the vehicle 12. The driving device 32is configured to provide a driving force to the wheels and the brakingdevice 33 is configured to provide a braking force to the vehicle 12.The turning control ECU 31 receives information regarding the positionof the vehicle within a travel lane (a distance with respect to thewhite lines on the road). Based on the information received from theautomated driving ECU 20 and the information received from the sensingdevice 21, the turning control ECU 31 controls a steering angle of thesteering device 34 and a turning angle of the wheels such that thevehicle 12 travels along the target travel trajectory. If the vehicle isprovided with a turning device that can turn the wheels independentlyfrom the steering device, the turning device may be directly controlled.

The vehicle 12 can be in a driver assistance mode instead of anautomated driving mode in which control is performed without requiringdriver's operation (an automated driving control). In the driverassistance mode, driver assistance control for assisting driver'sdriving operation is performed and for example, the vehicle can travelat a constant speed or follow the preceding vehicle with a constantdistance. In the driver assistance control, for example, the speedcontrol ECU 30 and the turning control ECU 31 do not receive theinformation from the automated driving ECU 20 and control the travelspeed and the turning angle of the wheels based on the information fromthe sensing device 21 such that the vehicle 12 travels according to thesurrounding environment.

As described before, since the automated driving control and the driverassistance control can be performed in the vehicle 12, the vehicle bodymay be motioned with no relation to the driver's intention. For example,the vehicle body squats when the vehicle 12 accelerates at the time ofstarting, the vehicle body pitches when the vehicle 12 decelerates withthe braking device 33, and the vehicle body rolls or yaws when thevehicle 12 travels around a curve or turns right or left. Namely, whenthe automated driving control or the driver assistance control isperformed, the vehicle body may be motioned without the driver'soperation. Therefore, the occupants' (including the driver) preparationfor the motion of the vehicle body is delayed. The vehicle 12 includesthe vehicle body motion informing device 10 and informs the occupantthat the vehicle body will be motioned at earliest timing as possible orpreviously.

The vehicle body motion informing device 10 in this embodiment will bedescribed in detail. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the vehicle body motioninforming device 10 includes lighting devices and a motion informing ECU41 as main components. The lighting devices exit light toward theinterior of the compartment. The motion informing ECU 41 is a controldevice that controls the lighting condition of each of the lightingdevices. The lighting devices are mounted in right and left side doorsof the vehicle 12. FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate only two right side doors,particularly, a front right side door 50FR on a relatively front sideand a rear right side door 50RR on a relatively rear side. The vehicle12 includes a front left side door 50FL on a relatively rear side and arear left side door 50RL on a relatively rear side. The front right sidedoor 50FR, the rear right side door 50RR, the front left side door 50FL,and the rear left side door 50RL are held so as to be slidable. Thefront right side door 50FR and the front left side door 50FL are slidfrontward and the rear right side door 50RR and the rear left side door50RL are slid rearward to be opened.

The configurations of the side doors 50FR, 50RR, 50FL, 50RL are similarwith respect to the configuration descried below and the configurationof the rear front side door 50RR will be described with reference toFIG. 4. The front right side door 50FR includes an outer panel 51disposed on a vehicular exterior side, an inner panel 52 disposed on avehicular interior side with respect to the outer panel 51, a door trim53FR disposed on the vehicular interior side with respect to the innerpanel 52, and a side window 54. The door trim 53 configures a vehicularcompartment interior surface of the side door, that is, an interiordesign surface. The side window 54 is disposed between the inner panel52 and the door trim 53 and extends upward.

As illustrated by broken lines in FIG. 3, a lighting device 40FR isarranged in a rear upper portion of a door trim 53FR of the front rightside door 50FR and a lighting device 40RR is arranged in a front upperportion of a door trim 53RR of the rear right side door 50RR. A portionthat is surrounded by the broken line in FIG. 3 is a lighting portion.Each of the lighting device 40FR of the front right side door 50FR andthe lighting device 40RR of the rear right side door 50RR has anelongated shape extending in a vehicular front-rear direction. Thelighting device 40FR and the lighting device 40RR are linearly arrangedin the vehicular front-rear direction. The lighting device 40FR and thelighting device 40RR configure a continuous elongated lighting device asa whole. The left side doors 50FL, 50RL also have such a configuration.Next, an arrangement configuration of the lighting devices 40FR, 40RRwith respect to the side doors 50FR, 50RR will be described in detail.The configuration of a portion of the front right side door 50FRincluding the lighting device 40FR and the configuration of a portion ofthe rear right side door 50RR including the lighting device 40RR aresubstantially same. Therefore, in the following description, the frontright side door 50FR will be described as one example. The left sidedoors 50FL, 50RL also have the same configuration in the portionsincluding the lighting devices 40FL, 40RL, respectively.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the lighting device 40FR is mounted on anupper board 60 of the door trim 53FR of the front right side door 50FR.The upper board 60 is made of synthetic resin material such aspolypropylene. The material of the upper board 60 is not limited to thesynthetic resin material but may be mixture of plant material andsynthetic resin. The upper board 60 has a hole 60A as illustrated inFIG. 4. The hole 60A is rectangular and formed in each of the portionsillustrated by the broken lines in FIG. 3. As illustrated in FIG. 4, thehole 60A has a step at a hole edge and the step is recessed toward thevehicular exterior side. A light transmission member 61 is fit in thehole 60A and placed on the step. The light transmission member 61 ismade of synthetic resin that is highly light transmissive such asacrylic, PET, and polycarbonate. The light transmission member 61 isfixed to the hole edge or the step of the hole 60A with bonding suchthat the surfaces (front surfaces, vehicular interior surfaces) of thelight transmission member 61 and the upper board 60 are flush with eachother. A design sheet 61A is bonded to a rear surface (a vehicularexterior surface) of the light transmission member 61 to partially blocklight or reduce transmittance. The design sheet 61A is for providingdesign or modification to the light exiting the light transmissionmember 61. The design sheet 61A has light blocking portions that blocklight and light transmission portions that transmit light, for example.The design sheet 61A may have portions having low light transmittanceand the light transmission portions that transmit light. The designsheet 61A may be bonded to the surface (the vehicular interior-sidesurface) of the light transmission member 61 and disposed between thelight transmission member 61 and a surface member 70, which will bedescribed later.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a light exit section 62 is fixed to a rearsurface (a vehicular exterior side surface) of the upper board 60 so asto be opposite the light transmission member 61. The light exit section62 includes a housing member 64 and LEDs 63 that are light sources andarranged in the housing member 64. The lighting device 40FR includes thelight exit section 62, the design sheet 61A, and the light transmissionmember 61. The LEDs 63 can be switched on and off and when the LEDs 63are lighted, illuminance can be altered in a stepwise manner within arange from relatively high illuminance (bright) to relatively lowilluminance (dark). The LED 63 includes a red LED element emitting redlight, a green LED element emitting green light, and a blue LED elementemitting blue light. The mixture ratio of the colors of emitting lightcan be adjusted to change the color of light emitted by the LED 63. Thehousing member 64 is a box-shaped member that is open toward thevehicular interior side and is arranged on a vehicular exterior sidewith respect to the door trim 53. The housing member 64 includes abottom 64A of the box shape that is disposed on the vehicular exteriorside with respect to the opening. The LEDs 63 are disposed on the bottom64A. The housing member 64 is made of synthetic resin and does nottransmit and reflect light. The bottom 64A and the opening have asubstantially same area as that of the lighting portion that isillustrated by the broken line in FIG. 3.

The housing member 64 includes side walls 64C extending from four sidesof the bottom 64A and includes flanges 64B extending upward and downwardfrom the side walls on the upper and lower sides, respectively. Theupper board 60 includes mounting portions 60B on the rear surface (thevehicular exterior-side surface) of the upper board 60. The mountingportions 60B are projections on the rear surface of the upper board 60.The flanges 64B of the housing member 64 are fixed to the respectivemounting portions 60B. Accordingly, the housing member 64 covers thelight transmission member 61 from the vehicular exterior side. Accordingto such a configuration, the light emitted by the LEDs 63 passes throughthe light transmission member 61 to the vehicular compartment (thevehicular interior side). Most of the light rays that transmit throughthe light transmission member 61 from the vehicular compartment (theoutside of the housing member 64) and enter the housing member 64 areabsorbed by the housing member 64.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the vehicular interior-side surface of theupper board 60 is covered with the surface member 70. The lighttransmission member 61, which is the lighting portion of the lightingdevice 40FR, and at least a surrounding portion that is a portion of thedoor trim around the light transmission member 61 are collectivelycovered with the surface member 70. The light transmission member 61 anda whole upper board 60 are covered with the surface member 70. Thesurface member 70 is made of a thin film resin havingsemi-transmissivity (light transmittance of 50% or less). With such aconfiguration, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, a border between thehole edge of the hole 60A of the upper board 60 and the lighttransmission member 61 is less likely to be recognized from thevehicular interior side (the compartment side) when the LEDs 63 are notturned on. When the LEDs 63 are turned on, as illustrated in FIG. 5, thelight rays that have passed through the light transmission portions ofthe design sheet 61A pass through the light transmission member 61 andthe surface member 70 and exit to the vehicular interior side (thevehicular compartment).

The motion informing ECU 41 controls each of the lighting devices 40FR,40RR, 40FL, 40RL of the four side doors 50FR, 50RR, 50FL, 50RL havingthe above configuration to inform the vehicle's occupants of the motionof the vehicle body. The motion informing ECU 41 can control each of thelighting devices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL, 40RL independently to turn on and offeach of the lighting devices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL, 40RL independently. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, the motion informing ECU 41 includes anacceleration/deceleration lighting processing section 42 and a turninglighting processing section 43. The acceleration/deceleration lightingprocessing section 42 controls the lighting device to be turned on whenthe motion is caused in the vehicular body according to acceleration ordeceleration of the vehicle. The turning lighting processing section 43controls the lighting device to be turned on when the motion is causedin the vehicle body according to turning of the vehicle.

A vehicle body motion informing process performed by the vehicle bodymotion informing device 10 will be described. In the automated drivingcontrol process, the automated driving ECU 20 obtains a current positionof the vehicle 12 and a vehicle body motion point where a motion will becaused according to the acceleration, deceleration or turning of thevehicle based on the driving trajectory stored in the memory 28 andobtains a distance between the vehicle body motion point and the currentposition. When determining that the distance reaches a predetermineddistance, the automated driving ECU 20 transmits a vehicle body motionsignal indicating that a motion will be caused to the motion informingECU 41 of the vehicle body motion informing device 10 and the vehiclebody motion informing process is started.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, in the vehicle body motion informing process,the motion informing ECU 41 determines whether the vehicle body motionsignal is a signal relating to speed or not (S1). When determining thatthe vehicle body motion signal is a signal relating to speed (S1:YES),the motion informing ECU 41 determines whether the vehicle body motionsignal is a signal relating to acceleration or not (S2). Whendetermining that the vehicle body motion signal is a signal relating toacceleration (S2:YES), the motion informing ECU 41 performs anacceleration informing lighting process (S3).

In the acceleration informing lighting process (S3), the motioninforming ECU 41 controls the lighting devices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL, 40RL ofthe door trims 53FR, 53RR, 53FL, 53RL of all the side doors 50FR, 50RR,50FL, 50RL to exit blue light.

In step S2, when determining that the vehicle body motion signal is nota signal relating to acceleration (S2:NO), the motion informing ECU 41determines that the vehicle body motion signal is a signal relating todeceleration or stopping and performs a deceleration informing lightingprocess (S4).

In the deceleration informing lighting process (S4), the motioninforming ECU 41 controls the lighting devices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL, 40RL ofthe door trims 53FR, 53RR, 53FL, 53RL of all the side doors 50FR, 50RR,50FL, 50RL to exit orange light.

In step S1, when determining that the vehicle body motion signal is nota signal relating to speed (S1:NO), the motion informing ECU 41determines whether the vehicle body motion signal is a signal relatingto turning or not (S5). When determining that the vehicle body motionsignal is a signal relating to turning (S5:YES), the motion informingECU 41 determines whether the vehicle body motion signal is a signalrelating to right turning or not (S6).

When determining that the vehicle body motion signal is a signalrelating to right turning (S6:YES), the motion informing ECU 41 controlsthe lighting devices 40FR and 40RR of the door trims 53FR and 53RR ofthe right side doors 50FR and 50RR to exit red light (S7). On the otherhand, when determining that the vehicle body motion signal is not asignal relating to right turning (S6:NO), the motion informing ECU 41determines that the vehicle body motion signal is a signal relating toleft turning and controls the lighting devices 40FL and 40RL of the doortrims 53FL and 53RL of the left side doors 50FL and 50RL to exit redlight (S8). The processes of steps S7 and S8 correspond to a turninginforming lighting process.

In step S5, when determining that the vehicle body motion signal is nota signal relating to turning (S5:NO), the motion informing ECU 41performs other process as appropriate in step S9. After the accelerationinforming lighting process of S3, the turning informing lightingprocesses of S7 and S8, and other process of S9, the process returns tothe automated driving control process (a main routine).

Operations and effects of the vehicular body motion informing processwill be described. While the vehicle 12 is under the automated drivingcontrol, the acceleration/deceleration lighting processing section 42can previously obtain a point where the vehicle 12 starts travelling orstarts to accelerate and controls the lighting devices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL,40RL of the door trims 53FR, 53RR, 53FL, 53RL of all the side doors 50FR, 50RR, 50FL, 50RL to exit blue light (S3) a predefined time beforestarting. While the vehicle 12 is under the automated driving control,the acceleration/deceleration lighting processing section 42 canpreviously obtain a point where the vehicle 12 stops or starts todecelerate and controls the lighting devices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL, 40RL ofthe door trims 53FR, 53RR, 53FL, 53RL of all the side doors 50 FR, 50RR,50FL, 50RL to exit orange light (S4) a predefined time before startingdeceleration.

While the vehicle 12 is under the automated driving control, the turninglighting processing section 43 can previously obtain a point where thevehicle 12 makes a sharp turn, turns right or left, and joins anotherroad and controls the lighting devices 40FR and 40RR of the door trims53FR and 53RR of the right side doors 50FR and 50RR or the lightingdevices 40FL and 40RL of the door trims 53FL and 53RL of the left sidedoors 50FL and 50RL to exit red light (S7, S8) a predefined time beforeturning. The lighting devices that are to exit light are included in theside doors that are arranged in the direction in which the vehicle 12turns and travels.

As described above, the vehicle body motion informing device 10 iscontrolled in cooperation with the automated driving system 11 such thatthe vehicle body motion informing device 10 can previously inform thevehicle's occupants that a motion of the vehicle body will be caused.This improves comfortability in riding of the vehicle.

While the vehicle 12 is under the driver assistance control, the vehiclebody motion informing process is started when theacceleration/deceleration lighting processing section 42 determines thatthe target acceleration/deceleration speed is different from the currentspeed or when the turning lighting processing section 43 determines thatthe target travel trajectory changes. Specifically, when determiningthat the target acceleration/deceleration speed is greatly differentfrom the current speed, the acceleration/deceleration lightingprocessing section 42 controls the lighting devices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL,40RL of the door trims 53FR, 53RR, 53FL, 53RL of all the side doors 50to exit blue light or orange light.

When determining that the curvature of the driving lane where thevehicle 12 is to travel is great and the target travel trajectorygreatly changes, the turning lighting processing section 43 controls thelighting devices 40FR and 40RR of the door trims 53FR and 53RR of theright side doors 50FR and 50RR or the lighting devices 40FL and 40RL ofthe door trims 53FL and 53RL of the left side doors 50FL and 50RL toexit red light. The lighting devices that are to exit light are includedin the side doors that are arranged in the direction in which thevehicle 12 turns and travels. Therefore, the vehicle body motioninforming device 10 can inform the vehicle's occupants that a motion ofthe vehicle body will be caused at early timing while the vehicle 12 isunder the driver assistance control.

As described before, in the vehicle body motion informing device 10, thelighting devices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL, 40RL are disposed on the rear surface(the vehicular exterior-side surface) of the door trims 53FR, 53RR,53FL, 53RL (a vehicular interior part), respectively. The door trims53FR, 53RR, 53FL, 53RL are covered with the surface member 70 havingsemi-transmissivity (semi-light transmissivity) in at least the portionsthereof corresponding to the lighting portions (the light transmissionmember 61) of the lighting devices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL, 40RL and thesurrounding portions (the entire area of the upper board 60). Accordingto such a configuration, when the vehicle body motion informing device10 is not being operated, that is, when the lighting devices 40FR, 40RR,40FL, 40RL do not exit light, the lighting devices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL,40RL are not seen from the vehicular interior side and this improvesvehicular interior design. Thus, the vehicle body motion informingdevice 10 can inform the vehicle's occupants that a motion will becaused while improving the vehicular interior design.

The vehicle body motion informing device 10 can inform the vehicle'soccupants that a motion will be caused in the vehicle body by turning onthe lighting device when or before the vehicle starts to accelerate,decelerate, or turn. The surface member 70 is made of material that haslight blocking properties such that the light source of the lightingdevice cannot be seen from the vehicular interior side but through whichthe light from the lighting device passes to the vehicular interiorside.

According to such a configuration, when the vehicle body motioninforming device 10 is not being operated, that is, when the lightingdevices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL, 40RL do not exit light, the lighting devices40FR, 40RR, 40FL, 40RL are not seen from the vehicular interior side andthis improves vehicular interior design. Thus, the vehicle body motioninforming device 10 can inform the vehicle's occupants that a motionwill be caused while improving the vehicular interior design. In such avehicle body motion informing device 10, the vehicular interior partwhere the lighting device is disposed is not particularly limited to thedoor trim but may be any parts that are covered with the surface member.The lighting device may be preferably disposed on the parts that can beeasily seen by the vehicle's occupants such as a ceiling member and aninterior part near the instrument panel.

The vehicle body motion informing device 10 is installed in a vehicleincluding the automated driving system and controls the lighting deviceto exit light when the automated driving system is operated.

The automated driving system is not necessarily limited to the systemthat performs fully autonomous driving (level 5) but may be the systemthat performs conditional autonomous driving (level 3, level 4) or thesystem that performs driver assistance driving (level 1, level 2). Inthe vehicle including the driver assistance system, the driverassistance system can know the vehicle body will motion based on anoperation command transmitted to the driving device such as an engine ora motor and the braking device or based on an operation commandtransmitted to the steering device. In such a case, the lighting deviceis controlled to exit light and the vehicle's occupants are informedthat a motion will be caused at early timing.

In the vehicle including the automated driving system in which the fullyautonomous driving can be performed all the time or under specificconditions, the informing operation similar to that of the driverassistance system can be performed. Further, the automated drivingsystem can know the point of a curve or a temporary stop sign and knowwhere the vehicle body will motion due to turning, acceleration, ordeceleration. Therefore, the vehicle body motion informing device 10 canpreviously inform the vehicle's occupants that the motion will be causedbefore the vehicle body actually starts to motion.

The control unit of the vehicle body motion informing device 10 controlsthe lighting device to exit light when the vehicle accelerates ordecelerates.

The vehicle body motion informing device 10 can inform the vehicle'soccupants that the motion will be caused when or before the vehicle bodysquats at the time of starting or accelerating. Also, the vehicle bodymotion informing device 10 can inform the vehicle's occupants that themotion will be caused when or before the vehicle body pitches at thetime of decelerating.

The control unit of the vehicle body motion informing device 10 controlsthe lighting device to exit light when the vehicle turns.

The vehicle body motion informing device 10 can inform the vehicle'soccupants that the motion will be caused when or before the vehicle bodyrolls (rolling) or yaws (yawing) at the time of turning.

Other Embodiments

The lighting device included in the vehicle body motion informing device10 is not particularly limited to the lighting devices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL,40RL that are arranged on the respective door trims 53FR, 53RR, 53FL,53RL but may be a lighting device 81 arranged on a roof panel 80 asillustrated in FIG. 5. The lighting device may be arranged on avehicular interior part 82 where the steering device 34 is arranged andthat is mounted in a vehicular front inner side portion and extends inthe left-right direction. The lighting devices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL, 40RLarranged on the respective door trims 53FR, 53RR, 53FL, 53RL are mostpreferable for informing the vehicle's occupants since they are presentat the occupants' eye level.

In the above embodiment, the surface member 70 is made of a resin thinfilm. However, the material of the surface member 70 is not limited tothe resin thin film but may be material that has light blockingproperties such that the LEDs 63 of the lighting device cannot be seenfrom the vehicular interior side but through which the light from theLEDs 63 passes to the vehicular interior side. Examples of the materialinclude natural fiber such as kenaf and the natural fibers are stackedon each other to form a sheet of the surface member 70.

In the above embodiment, in the acceleration informing lighting process(S3) and the deceleration informing lighting process (S4), the motioninforming ECU 41 controls the lighting devices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL, 40RL ofthe door trims 53FR, 53RR, 53FL, 53RL of all the side doors 50FR, 50RR,50FL, 50RL to exit light. However, the motion informing ECU 41 maycontrol predetermined ones of the lighting devices 40FR, 40RR, 40FL,40RL to exit light according to the motion that will be caused.Similarly, in the turning informing lighting processes (S7, S8), themotion informing ECU 41 controls the lighting devices 40FR and 40RR ofthe door trims 53FR and 53RR or the lighting devices 40FL and 40RL ofthe door trims 53FL and 53RL to exit light according to the direction inwhich the vehicle turns and motions. However, the motion informing ECU41 may control one of the lighting devices on the front side or the rearside to exit light.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A vehicle body motion informing devicemounted in a vehicle and informing a vehicle occupant of a motion of avehicle body of the vehicle, the vehicle body motion informing devicecomprising: a vehicular interior part that configures an interiorsurface of a vehicular compartment of the vehicle; a lighting devicemounted on a vehicular exterior side of the vehicular interior part andexiting light to the vehicular compartment; a control unit that receivesan information signal relating to the motion of the vehicle body andcontrols the lighting device to exit light according to the informationto inform the vehicle occupant of the motion of the vehicle body; and asurface member having semi-transmissivity and disposed to cover at leasta lighting portion included in the vehicular interior part and asurrounding portion of the vehicular interior part, the lighting portionoverlapping the lighting device and through which the light from thelighting device passes to the vehicular compartment and the surroundingportion being near the lighting portion, wherein the vehicular interiorpart includes a hole, the lighting device is disposed opposite the holeand on a vehicular exterior side with respect to the vehicular interiorpart and includes a light source, a housing in which the light source isarranged, and a light transmissive member that is disposed to cover thehole from a vehicular interior side and corresponds to the lightingportion.
 2. The vehicle body motion informing device according to claim1, wherein the surface member is disposed to cover the lighttransmissive member and a vehicular interior-side surface of thevehicular interior part including the surrounding portion.
 3. Thevehicle body motion informing device according to claim 1, wherein thesurface member has light transmittance of 50% or less.
 4. The vehiclebody motion informing device according to claim 3, wherein the surfacemember is a thin resin film.
 5. The vehicle body motion informing deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the lighting device further includes adesign sheet disposed on a vehicular exterior-side surface of the lighttransmissive member and having light transmissive portions through whichlight passes and light blocking portions that block light.
 6. Thevehicle body motion informing device according to claim 1, wherein thehousing of the lighting device has a rectangular box shape elongated ina vehicular front-rear direction and having an opening that opens towardthe vehicular interior side and is communicated with the hole of thevehicular interior part, and the housing includes a bottom plate that isopposite the light transmissive member and side walls extending fromsides of the bottom plate to the vehicular interior part.
 7. The vehiclebody motion informing device according to claim 1, wherein the surfacemember extends continuously between the vehicular interior part and thelight transmissive member.
 8. The vehicle body motion informing deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein a vehicular interior-side surface of thevehicular interior part including the surrounding portion and avehicular interior-side surface of the light transmissive member areflush with each other, and the surface member extends continuously overthe vehicular interior-side surfaces of the vehicular interior partincluding the surrounding portion and the light transmissive member.